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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28139553">Paint The Sky</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElderflowerX/pseuds/ElderflowerX'>ElderflowerX</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>MapleStories [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>MapleStory</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Light Angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:29:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>721</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28139553</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElderflowerX/pseuds/ElderflowerX</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Let me ask a question, Shade. What have you regarded the five of us as?”</p>
<p>––</p>
<p>Freud answers Shade’s questions.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>MapleStories [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060760</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Paint The Sky</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He fancied a walk in Henesys after all the troubles, the worries. </p>
<p>––</p>
<p>The town had been torn apart much by the Black Mage to an extent that it looked quite like Lucid’s illusion. Its mushroom houses were broken down, windows boarded up, signs had been roughly ripped off. Doors were hanging from their hinges. </p>
<p>Well, at least the mutants hadn’t arrived yet. </p>
<p>Feeling like he would much rather sit down now, Shade settled on a patch of grass overlooking the village.</p>
<p>As the watched an orange mushroom slowly hop towards him, a shadow was cast onto the ground next to him. </p>
<p>He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. </p>
<p>––</p>
<p>“Well, Shade. It has been centuries.” </p>
<p>He knew who the voice belonged to, and bitterness welled up in him. There had been a time when all he’d wanted to see was Freud, but now he really wished he would just go away. He had too many resentful thoughts that had enveloped him as they developed. </p>
<p>After all, this was who and what he was. A mere Sixth hero who wasn’t even remembered as one. Naturally he would be the one to be sacrificed. He had no family, no clan, no home to go back to when he finally succeeded. </p>
<p>He was just a shadow in the other’s life.</p>
<p>––</p>
<p>But Freud wasn’t going to walk away. He’d realized since the shadow had not moved from its spot. So he finally turned around slowly to see the fair, thin face of Freud. He was smiling at him— or at least he was making the closest face to a smile that he could. He still distinctly looked like the person Shade remembered from so many centuries ago, but the face was weathered and his neat clothes were slightly creased. </p>
<p>The man settled down next to him, at least having the courtesy to sit further away. Shade turned his head away. He wished Freud would look away. </p>
<p>But as time continued to stretch, he whispered; “Why are you here?” </p>
<p>The figure sitting next to him turned his head to face the village. </p>
<p>“I am here to answer your questions.”</p>
<p>Questions. He suddenly felt angry other than bitter. He had come to answer when everything was over. He didn’t have any questions. There was no need for him to need to answer. The Black Mage is gone. The purpose is served. </p>
<p>Hoarsely, he whispered bitterly; “You didn’t remember me.”</p>
<p>Freud just nodded. “I didn’t.”</p>
<p>Frustration swallowed him whole. “Them why are you here? Come to tell me about the weather, or show me your collection of Pig Ribbons? You weren’t there when I needed you most, Freud, but you can come here and talk to me when everything is finished! There is no need for answering questions concerning something that has been finished!”</p>
<p>He turned to face him angrily, but realized that for once, Freud had shown an emotion. A sad shadow had crossed his face, he looked simply pained as he spoke again. </p>
<p>“Let me ask a question, Shade. What have you regarded the five of us as?”</p>
<p>For a moment he was shocked. </p>
<p>“I regarded you as friends. Close friends. The closest thing I had to a family.”</p>
<p>Freud nodded again, with a slightly bitter expression on his face. His hands had stiffened and he looked out onto the village again. </p>
<p>“The Black Mage knew of our weaknesses. Not physical... he knew that memories were of utmost importance to us, especially Aran, who cherished her good memory as one of her most valuable powers. By removing her memories of everything that happened, he left her confused, and vulnerable, and sad.” </p>
<p>Freud started up at the sky, lost in thought. </p>
<p>“When I was a child, my village was attacked by monsters. Many were slaughtered... but then the White Mage came, and he saved us. I gave him a coin, vowing to become a great magician just like him.”</p>
<p>He faced Shade once again. </p>
<p>“It was not power or wisdom that defined the best out of all of us. You selflessly sacrificed your own existence to seal the Black Mage. It did horrors to you that none of us would have been able to bear. And even after he is gone, you still worry about him. I think bravery defines the strongest one, Shade.”</p>
<p>––</p>
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